Learning in the context of The Organisation
We look at learning under three headings:
Organisations move forward only when all three aspects of learning are addressed.
Our perspective on management is that it is a highly challenging endeavour, which deserves more support from scientists and thinkers of our society. Too often managers are left up to their own devices. Common sense is regarded as sufficient. That woefully underestimates the intellectual task of managing organisations.
Human organisations are complex systems, far more involved and difficult to describe - let alone control - than say engineering systems. Engineers are taught theory before they require to practice. More often than not, managers are told to practice with scant regard for underpinning theory.The fundamental recognition is that knowledge is based on theory - theories that have been developed and tested through diligent research.
In other words we develop our knowledge when we take time to identify and challenge the underlying theories that form the basis of our thinking.
Thinking "outside our box" and challenging our basic perceptions starts by recognising the basic theory that underpins our existing knowledge. But the basic theories that determine the methods have been developing throughout the twentieth century. These alternative theories provide a contrast to our traditional thinking. They have a greater ability to solve today's problems. They provide a new management paradigm. It is a step change.
The language of the new paradigm is systems, knowledge management, empowerment, co-operation, partnership, empowerment, social captial, vartiation, joined up thinking, self organising systems and intrinsic motivation. This contrasts with traditional thinking that retains the language of targets, budgets, appraisal, training, supervision, accountability, payment by results, fixed assets etc.
There is a vast amount of literature supported by research that challenges our basic theorteical assumptions.
Learning - how do we learn?
In the context of the individual we are beginning to understand how the brain works and how its thinking patterns are dominated by fixed mindsets or paradigms.
We hold many assumptions in our heads – ways of explaining to ourselves what happens and why, how people behave and how organisations work or why they don’t. We use these assumptions to structure our organisations and develop our methods. When our assumptions are out of date we are left with processes that fail to deliver.
Our assumptions can be wrong more often than we think because experience is an unreliable teacher. Some assumptions were always wrong. The world was never flat. Some started right and went out of date because reality changed.
Inaccurate assumptions are acutely disabling because they are invisible to us. If something unexpected happens we easily attribute it to the circumstances in a way that leaves our assumption intact if not reinforced. We are particularly ready to blame the stupidity of others. Satisfied with our explanation to ourselves, we do not look for errors in our own thinking.
We are also beginning to appreciate how slowly we learn, and how inefficient is the classical lecture mode of teaching. Even examples of good practice rarely transform the thinking of managers.
There is also the recognition that we can be at different stages in the learning process. i.e.
There is immense scope for the consideration of how organisations and individuals learn.
Application - How do we apply the learning? - Organisational learning
And the third component is the challenge of applying the knowledge and learning - how do we create an organisation that is continually learning. How do we convert that knowledge and learning into enhanced profit, morale and customer service and innovation for the organisation? Knowledge only becomes enriching when it is applied.
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Danah Zohar in her book "Re-wiring the Corporate Brain" uses the workings of the brain to draw parallels with the working of organisations. The brain has billions of cells and the intelligence/knowledge is a function of all the neural connections between the cells. It is not the ability of each cell that determines intelligence but all the connections. The analogy with organisations is that it is not so much the talent of each individual that determines its capability but how effectively all the thinking units are interconnected.
We would therefore identify two constraints -The skill and knowledge of the individual and the capability of the organisation - and its interconnections.. And if we go back to the recognition that at least 90% of outcomes are a function of the design of the systems in which people work, then it is logical for the organisation to invest 90% of its trainingg and improvement budget in developing the systems of the enterprise.
Our experience repeatedly shows us that the skill of the individual invariably exceeds the ability of the organisation to use that skill.
To return to the brain analogy it is not the capability of the individual cells that determine intellectual capital but the interconnections - in organisations it is the connections that captures and converts the individual units of intelligence into a dynamic whole.
The fundamental mind shift the Network wishes to propose is that an organisation - just like a brain - has a memory - and learning potential. And the memory and learning potential is relative to the connections, the structure, and the culture of the organisation.
The great opportunity, therefore, is to develop strategies for organisational learning.
The Challenge - conclusion
Because each circumstance is different there are no "off the shelf " answers or standards for application. Much has been written and many examples have been documented. But at the end of the day each organisation has to devise its own implementation strategy based on the three elements mentioned above.
The network does however propose a praticular application method as detailed in its file "Implementation"